Good topic, Shubhika. Posting here will take my mind off the complaints I have about the show, so thank you!
Maya
Maya was a bitter woman since the beginning of the show. Whatever I feel about Maya is based partly on speculation, partly on what has been shown. Now we know that she has been widowed for 15 years. It is also obvious from her reaction to the suggestion of PV of Yash to a widow with one child that she resented not getting a second chance at happiness. She might not want a PV now (because she may not want to be uprooted from familiar surroundings at this age) but she would have been happy if it had happened at the right time. Her grudge against Aarti was because she resented the latter getting a chance at what she would have liked, albeit, some years back.
I think Maya was not antagonistic, but she had bitterness in her and it surfaced at times against the bahus of the house, mainly Vidhi, who was the lone bahu for a long time. Vidhi understood Buaji and dealt with her as best as she could without letting things go out of hand, as did Gayatri. To Buaji, even Gayu is a bahu in that house and she was happy with her petty needling of these two to take out her frustrations until Aarti entered the scene. Then all her suppressed feelings came out and she went all the way to disrupt Aarti's happiness. Yet, Buaji loved the family in her own way, she loved her brother and her nephews as well as the kids.
Ever since Yash and Aarti returned from Lalitpur, there has been more insensitivity towards Bua from the family. They do treat her like a piece of furniture at times, just pushing her out of the way when they feel she might interfere. I don't think any of the Scindias have pondered on why Bua is like she is; they see her only as a troublemaker. The temple scene where the couples made promises to each other, the time SP sent her off to do paath because he wanted the youngsters to have fun, etc., and more recently, all the talk about PV for SP because he is feeling lonely within a month of his wife's death...if Bua is not hurt by all this, she would not be human! Aarti actually asks in front of Bua..."put yourself in Bauji's place and think how you would feel.." and Bua has been in that place for 15 years! And the time she accepted the PV, everyone had a snicker on their faces; I really felt sorry for her! To be so dependent on someone that one cannot even freely express an opinion...that is loneliness! I think Bua in spite of having a full family around her has been the loneliest person; yet no one understood what she felt but pushed her into that lonely state when her husband died. No wonder Buaji has outbreaks of meanness now and then.
Ishita
Ishita too has faced a lifetime of rejections. Born to parents like hers...who considered her a burden because she was langdi, that itself is disaster. She might have had all the advantages that money can give, but she has had an unhappy time in her parents' house. They tried to marry her off to any Tom, Dick or Harry willing to have her and each time, the deal fell through. Finally they zero in on Yash who is twice married and a father of 3 with one more on the way. Here, not only her parents, but the Scindias too used her badly. Yash and Aarti played with her feelings to get Ansh released...Yash ran away from the mandap half-way thru the pheras and then told her that he cannot marry her. I don't think Ishita was hostile right from beginning but what happened next was even worse. Aakash stepped forward and married her, but he also did it with selfish reasons and once he found Ishita was penniless, he rejected her as well. On top of that, he was physically and verbally abusive. I blame Aakash for Ishita turning evil; if he had shown acceptance of her, she would have not looked at Aarti and Yash and felt jealous. She is psychologically damaged and in her twisted mind, she saw Aarti and Yash relationship as rightfully hers. The sequence of events only reinforced the feelings in her. Now with Aakash worshipping Aarti, it is going to get worse. Isthita will go over the edge soon and do something drastic which is going to hurt everyone in SM.
Ishita was a "burden" to her parents, she was a "commodity" to get Ansh back for Yash and Aarti, she was a "punching bag" for Aakash and she was the target for "mockery" for Paridhi and Maya. Aarti was condescending when she brought her into SM; Aarti's advice to her to forget and start anew still makes me wince when I think of it. Radha knew Aakash was ill-treating her but she did not life a finger to help her or even make Aakash understand -- she was too busy attending to her asli beta and bahu. Gayu used Aakash as a weapon against SP and in extension, Ishita as well. I don't approve of Ishita's actions, but I can understand where she is coming from and what she needs is not preaching but understanding...whether she will get that in SM is debatable!
I find Ishita most interesting at the moment. The ideal person to help her is someone who knows what rejection and loneliness is like. Bua is out of the question because she is too bitter to give sweetness to another. Aakash is too crude and does not have the depth of character to understand Ishita at the moment. He sees her as a hindrance and went to her only because Aarti told him to, not because he was really sorry for how he had treated her. Aarti has faced rejection too, but Aarti is her enemy and frankly, I don't want any more glorification of Aarti. Her halo is too blinding and I hope she is not the instrument for Ishita's turnaround. The ideal person is Radha...she knows what rejection can be like and she rose above it to live her life alone for 30 years and bring up Aakash. I devoutly hope Radha is the chosen one who will bring in a change in Ishita if it is to happen.
Edited by ssroomani - 11 years ago
